The Real Deal Miami

SoFla has fourth-most affordable areas with good schools

Chicago ranked highest for affordable neighborhoods with good schools

November 19, 2015 12:00PM

A 2009 photo of Miami’s skyline (Credit: Nigel Morris)

A ritzy penthouse in Brickell might be out of reach for most South Floridians, but a new report from CoreLogic shows that the region has more affordable neighborhoods with good schools than most of the nation.

The report looked at 7,200 zip codes throughout the United States and matched them up the median price to buy a house in each area, along with their residents’ median income. Areas where a family would have to drop more than one third of its income to buy a house were deemed unaffordable, while spending less than one third was labeled as affordable.

Out of the 7,200 zip codes, 1,823 had at least one elementary school that posted test scores above state averages. And of those 1,823 zip codes, 1,192 had home prices above what a median family could pay.

Despite the continued rise of home prices in South Florida, the region had 20 affordable zip codes with at least one good school, placing it fourth in the nation. Ahead of South Florida was the Phoenix, Arizona, metropolitan area with 22 affordable zips, Detroit, Michigan, with 45 and Chicago, Illinois, with a whopping 172.

Some of our 20 zip codes include: 33172 in Doral, where the median price for a home was $149,000. The area’s above-average elementary school is the Doral Academy of Technology, which enrolls 190 students, according to the report. 33054 in Miami Gardens, with a median home price of only $92,000. The school there is the North Dade Center for Modern Language, which enrolls 405 students. And 33312 in Fort Lauderdale, where the median price for a home is $195,000, and the school is the Charter School of Excellence at North Lauderdale, with 34 students. — Sean Stewart-Muniz

Here’s a complete list of South Florida’s top 20 affordable areas with good schools: